The North West is the worst region in the country for hospital roofs built with a type of concrete that could suffer sudden collapse, the Manchester Evening News can reveal. The roofs with the material - including buildings at Salford Royal and the Royal Oldham hospitals - might not be fixed until 2035, NHS bosses have admitted.
Some 11 hospital buildings across the North West have been built with concrete that has prompted concerns of the risk of cracking and collapse from government bodies, safety groups and politicians alike. The roofs are built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which is a lightweight, cheaper form of material - it has been compared to a "chocolate Aero bar" and slammed as a "ticking time bomb" by one NHS chief executive.
The seven hospitals in the North West with roofs which use RAAC are: Aintree, Leighton, Blackpool, Countess of Chester, Royal Blackburn, the Royal Oldham, and Salford Royal. Current government plans would not see removal of this concrete from all affected hospitals for another 13 years.
